Sweets, Squirrels and Stews
This week we had a sweet shop set up in our forest with a cash till, a phone, pretty rocks and sticks all laid out for sale. Using and building up our maths skills, the children bought and sold ‘sweeties’ between each other and took orders on the phone. Advice on tooth brushing was liberally offered to all customers.
Our favourite book this week was “Goldilocks and three bears.” We dressed up, had our faces painted, read the story and then had a great time role playing our version of the tale. Using an old bag of oats, we added water and stirred and stirred. Gauging how much water to add was a team effort, and we had claggy porridge, wet runny porridge and porridge that was just right. The sensory play was enjoyed by all of our little explorers.
On our tuff tray one day, we had a variety of veggies laid out and some child-safe knives. Many of the children chopped and sawed through aubergines, onions and potatoes and once our veggies were cut, we all moved over to the mud kitchen to cook up some soups and stews. While our chefs creatively cooked up their concoctions, we introduced them to the old story of stone soup.
We are always very crafty in the forest, painting, drawing, junk art construction, chalk drawing etc. This week we used 5cm wide sellotape and flower petals to make bracelets. By laying the petals down along the sticky side of a piece of tape, we created gorgeous patterns. We then carefully laid another piece of sellotape on top and sealed the flower petals within. We wrapped it around our wrists and modeled our beautiful bracelets for all our friends and educators to see.
Early one morning a squirrel was scampering along the branches of our huge plane tree when he fell and landed on the forest floor with a bit of a bump. One of our educators and the children prepared a small box with leaves, the educator put on some latex gloves and carefully picked up the dazed and winded young squirrel. The children spoke softly and were most concerned about the creature. We placed the squirrel in the box and he curled up and went to sleep. We checked back on him/her several times and we were pleased to find the squirrel gone. “He must have gotten better and run back up the tree to his mum” the children concluded.
Another lovely week - we hope you all have a great weekend!
Little Forest Folk
Twickenham